1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for conveying bar-like bread dough pieces. It especially relates to a method and apparatus in and by which bar-like bread dough pieces having a bent shape are modified to have a straight shape for producing bread for French bread such as baguettes.
2. Prior Art
In shaping bar-shaped bread dough pieces, say, for French bread, a dough mass is divided and cut into pieces at a first stage. Each piece is then stretched to make a bread dough sheet. It is then wound up by a winding up device, thereby a bar-like bread dough piece being shaped. Alternatively, each piece is rotated within a gap between a conveyor and a pressing board or a pressing belt disposed above the conveyor, thereby a bar-like bread dough piece being shaped.
In stretching the bar-like dough piece to elongate it in the axial direction, both its ends tend to be easily elongated as compared with its middle part. Therefore, the rolled bar-like bread dough piece 62 is not uniformly elongated, but has a curvature, as in FIG. 1. This rolled bar-like bread dough piece 62 tends to become a bar-like bread dough piece 64 that has a bent portion, as in FIG. 7.
This results in a manual modification being necessitated, so that a bar-like bread dough piece having a straight shape can be produced. This also leads to complex processes and high production costs.
Also, the rolled bar-like bread dough piece has a residual stress that results from applying an outer force caused by rolling the dough piece. After baking such a dough piece, a bar-like bread dough piece with a curvature or twist on its surface is produced. Therefore, defects have existed in that the bar-like dough piece had a bad appearance or a deformed shape due to the curvature or twist of the dough piece resulting from a residual stress within the dough.